Dennis Bangham

I got some advice from Dr. Redhawk a few weeks back. Look for my post in soil.  I am in Zone 7a/b and I think Dr. Redhawk is in your area.
"Hau Dennis, I have started using wheat and barley for winter fodder for the deer and quail that share the land. Those are easy to no till, grow to around 6 - 8 inches and stay that height all winter in spring you can crimp or wait and harvest grains.
In my deer area I rotate through Wheat and barley then soybeans 7top, rape, crimson clover, yellow clover. I usually mix seed passes and over seed. "

In my area clay is the norm. Maybe 5 to 6 inches of soil at most.  The trees grow fine.  I have put down a lot of wood chips and can see the clay slowly converting to loose dark soil.

I have clipped the jujube from the main root and when dormant transplant and graft a known cultivar on it.  I had good success with Li and Sherwood.  I am doing that again this year.  Get scion wood from Cliff England at Englands Nursery.

Thank you Dr. Redhawk.  I have been following your advice for years and my land went from hard clay to amazing loose rich soil.  Starting to get Pawpaw, Persimmon and Jujube for harvest.

Bryant RedHawk wrote:I like to use a diverse mix of cover crops. Keep in mind that most are turned under (tilled) in big ag outfits. I chop and drop, rape, 7 top turnip, daikon, winter peas, even grains work well, just chop before seed out. Redhawk

Dr. Redhawk, this sounds like what you do over summer.  What do you do over the winter?  Looking for recommendations related to timing for North Alabama (Zone 7a/b).

I just bought a crimper roller and want to keep a cover crop in between my orchard rows.  

From what I understand, the roots will provide many of the nutrients needed for my fruit trees.  

Are any other supplements needed to make sure I have it all covered?  

Should I let it seed out and get a new cover crop to cover the seasons?

Look into grafting some other varieties on to them. Some research will show what varieties of peach, nectarine, apricot and cherry.  

Are those Juniper trees? If so make sure your apple and pears are Rust resistant.  (Cedar apple rust) and Pear Quince Rust) are two examples.

I remember Dr. Redhawk had some comments on what he does  so I tracked several down.
"I chop and drop, rape, 7 top turnip, daikon, winter peas, even grains work well, just chop before seed out.

The best plant for preventing erosion is Lucerne (alfalfa) the roots are massive in number and deep in the soil (over 4 feet deep is normal), clovers are great for this too.

I use a blend of something around 20 different plant species for covers, four of them are clovers, buckwheat, alfalfa, cereal rye, fescue, annual rye, rape, seven top turnip and on and on.
The reason for this is to get variety and thus diversity along with the many different root growth patterns, bacteria diversity, fungal diversity, the more different plants that are used, the better the end result soil will be."
 

Looking for ideas on what to plant this fall and next spring as a cover crop for my fruit tree orchard.  
Weeds are the biggest problem right now.
I now have a crimper roller and was thinking of rye or alfalfa.  I have a lot of clay just  under a 6 to 12 inch soil layer.
I live in North Alabama so winters are sporadic and summers are hot and humid.  
What would make a good cover crop over summer to suppress weeds?
What would be a good cover crop over winter to keep the soil rich?

Finally getting back to this topic.  Found a good resource of information and seems similar to what I need.
https://growabundant.com/bicarbonates-in-irrigation-water/
Lucky that I had the test done at Logan labs (Soil and water)
I have the venturi and a tote bin.  The water is 7.1 pH and the soil is 6.3.